Reciprocating floor conveyors are now relatively well known. U.S. Pat. No. 2,629,504, granted Feb. 24, 1953, to Walter R. Peterson, discloses what has been referred to as a two-slat system. This conveyor comprises a plurality of groups of floor members or slats, with two such members in each group. All of the members are moved together in a first direction for conveying a load. One member of each group is then moved rearwardly to a start position. Then the second member of each group is moved rearwardly to a start position. Then, the sequence is repeated. West German Patent Publication No. 1,296,087, published in May 1969, discloses a four-slat system. The floor members are divided into a plurality of groups and each group includes four floor members. In operation, three members of each group are always moving forwardly, to advance a load, and the fourth member is returning rearwardly to a start position. U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,875 granted in October, 1970, to Olof A. Hallstrom, discloses a three-slat system which operates in the same manner as the system disclosed by West German Patent Publication No. 1,296,087. U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,290, granted Sept. 16, 1975, to Robert A. Caughey, discloses a conveyor having four slat members in each group. All four members are moved together in a first direction, to convey a load. The members are then returned sequentially to a start position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,760, granted in March 1979, to Olof A. Hallstrom, discloses a three slat system with the same operating sequence as the conveyor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,290.
I have developed and marketed several styles of reciprocating floor conveyors. One such style is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,805, granted Dec. 1, 1987. A second style is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,893, granted June 7, 1988. A third style is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,469, granted Dec. 27, 1988. A fourth style is disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,783, granted Apr. 4, 1989. U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,805 discloses a four-slat system. Each of the other patents discloses a three-slat system. Each of the three-slat conveyors utilize the sequence of operation originated by Caughey and disclosed in his U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,290.
The object of the present invention is to provide a reciprocating floor conveyor having substantially the same advantage as the conveyors disclosed by the aforementioned U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,905,290; 4,143,760; 4,709,805; 4,748,893; 4,793,469 and 4,817,783, but with only two movable slat members in each group. This permits a reduction in costly components and a weight reduction.